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The year’s 50 best wines under $50, from an expert who tasted 3,243

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

By Elin McCoy | BloombergI love drinking rare, expensive wine as much as anyone, but I’m a bargain hunter at heart. I’m always on the lookout for the reds, whites, rosés and sparklers that deliver top quality at a reasonable cost. So, as I reviewed my 2023 tasting notes, I was delighted to discover this was a banner year for good values, despite inflation.I culled my following 50 good buys from 3,243 wines from 21 countries that I sipped this year. I’ve tried to highlight what’s new, at least to me, but some are familiar labels that consistently deliver deliciousness—and they haven’t raised their prices, either. Sadly it gets harder and harder to find Champagnes that sell for $50 and under, but I did.So, where to look for bargains?For the past two years, my top country for value in almost every category is Italy.France is a close second. Look to the Languedoc in the south, as well as the Touraine region of the Loire Valley, and in Macon. Be sure to add in Bordeaux from smaller chate...

Powerball jackpot rises to $760 million after no winner Wednesday night

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

By Elizabeth Wolfe | CNNAn estimated $760 million jackpot will be up for grabs in the next Powerball drawing after no winning ticket was drawn Wednesday night.The lottery’s next drawing will be Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET.After more than two months with no grand prize winner, the jackpot now carries a lump-sum option estimated at $382.5 million.But Wednesday’s drawing didn’t leave everyone empty-handed. At least one ticket in Texas won $2 million and at least one other in California won $1 million, the lottery announced.Wednesday’s jackpot was initially set at an estimated $685 million but sales officials increased the prize by about $15 million due to strong ticket sales.The swelling prize is the fourth Powerball jackpot to exceed half a billion dollars this year.The Powerball jackpot was last won on October 11, when a ticket in California won a $1.765 billion grand prize. The odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in 292,201,338, according to Powerball. Tickets cost $2 per play and a...

Abcarian: Should large people get an extra airline seat for free?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

Kimmy Garris, who describes herself as a “fat solo traveler,” probably had no idea that her 30-second TikTok video was going to cause a sensation when she recorded herself in September politely asking a Southwest Airlines gate agent if she could avail herself of the airline’s “customer of size” policy.Her TikTok post went viral because of what happened next.The gate agent hands Garris an extra boarding pass, she walks onto the plane, asks for a seat-belt extender, takes a window seat and places the extra boarding pass in the middle seat.“If anyone tries to sit in it,” she wrote, “I kindly let them know I have two seats booked. To be honest, I almost never get approached because no one wants to sit in the middle seat next to a fat person on a plane.”You were expecting some kind of made-for-social-media airplane meltdown, right? The video went viral, I think, because people have been shocked and delighted that an airline can be so ...

Political cartoons: Wishing us all a better 2024

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

2023 is a year many of us would rather forget. War in the Mideast and Ukraine. A former president indicted. Record illegal migration across the U.S. southern border. A dysfunctional Republican-led House of Representatives. The vote to remove a member of Congress. More gun violence. More attempts in red states to limit abortion rights.Conservative cartoonist Lisa Benson and liberal Clay Bennett reflect on a year that is thankfully coming to an end.Perhaps a little humor will set the stage for a better 2024.Clay Bennett/Chattanooga Times Free PressLisa Benson/Counterpoint MediaClay Bennett/Chattanooga Times Free PressLisa Benson/Counterpoint MediaClay Bennett/Chattanooga Times Free PressLisa Benson/Counterpoint MediaLisa Benson/Counterpoint MediaClay Bennett/Chattanooga Times Free PressClay Bennett/Chattanooga Times Free PressLisa Benson/Counterpoint MediaClay Bennett/Chattanooga Times Free PressClay Bennett/Chattanooga Times Free PressLisa Benson/Counterpoint MediaLisa Benson/Counter...

Thursday one of the busiest days to hit the road

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KRON) -- The number of people expected to be moving around by car between Thursday and next week is over 100 million people, and a good chunk of them are right here in California.In total, the number of Californians traveling is around 15 million and nationwide that number is 115 million. Chick-fil-A to open another East Bay location Almost 104 million will be traveling by car and at least 50 miles from home, according to AAA. That’s an increase of almost 2 percent compared to last year.The worst time to hit the roads will be both Thursday and Friday between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., with the best time to leave being before noon.When it comes to gas prices, they are similar to last year, AAA said. In the Bay Area, San Francisco has the highest price of $4.85 a gallon and the lowest being $4.59 in Solano County.

Hercules police arrest man suspected of multiple business burglaries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

(BCN) -- Hercules police over the weekend arrested a man they suspect shattered glass windows and broke into three businesses and was responsible for at least four burglaries last week.At 3:43 a.m. Sunday, police were notified of an alarm activation at a business located at 844 Willow Ave. A K-9 unit from Pinole police also responded.An arriving Hercules officer saw a man standing in front of Mountain Mike's Pizza wearing a dark puffy-style jacket and dark pants. The person was gone by the time the officer entered the parking lot, police said. Shots fired during robbery at Pinole gas station Wednesday Starbucks, the restaurant El Cuscatlan and Mountain Mike's had their glass doors shattered and appeared to have been broken into.Shortly afterward, another officer saw a male running from Foxboro Downs across from Willow Avenue into the creek area. Officers located the male matching the description and detained him by the creek.Police reviewed video surveillance and arrested the 21-y...

3 suspects in San Francisco robbery arrested

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

(BCN) -- Three people from Vacaville were arrested in connection to a San Francisco robbery case earlier this month, the San Francisco Police Department said Wednesday.At approximately 1:34 p.m. on Dec. 11, a robbery with a gun was reported in the area of 18th and Kansas streets. Police dispatch sent out a description of the vehicle associated with the suspects in this case and an officer spotted one matching the description traveling eastbound on Interstate 80.A record check of its license plate showed that it had allegedly been stolen in a carjacking in another jurisdiction. A sergeant attempted to pursue the fleeing vehicle, but lost sight of it, police said.When a car matching the description was again seen by officers in the Tenderloin near Eddy and Polk streets around 5:21 p.m., officers said they attempted to stop the vehicle, but it again fled.The pursuit ended with the suspects' vehicle causing a collision in the 500 block of Franklin Street. The suspects allegedly tried t...

Deceased man found on San Francisco BART train was suspected overdose

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

(BCN) -- A man who was found dead on a BART train Tuesday may have died from an overdose, according to BART Police.BART radio transmissions initially said that an unresponsive person was found on a Dublin-bound train at the Embarcadero station around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Oakland Mayor Thao rejects list of police chief candidates According to police logs, Narcan was administered to attempt to reverse a suspected opiate overdose. Fire department personnel arrived and soon declared the man deceased. There was no sign of foul play, according to police, but the exact cause of death will be determined by a medical examiner.The station was closed for approximately eight minutes while crews responded, but the emergency created major backups in the BART system.Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Woman critically injured in Fairfax Co. hit-and-run

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

A woman is critically injured after being hit by a vehicle Wednesday night in Fairfax County, Virginia, and police are looking for the driver.The crash happened around 9 p.m. at the intersection of Huntsman Boulevard and Bridle Wood Drive in Burke. Police said the woman was hit by a white Chevy Tahoe before it drove off.She had to be taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, where she’s still there as of Thursday morning.Witnesses told police that the Tahoe has front-end damage.The southbound lane of Huntsman Boulevard was closed around Bridle Wood Drive due to the crash before reopening before 5:30 a.m. Thursday.Police said that they’re continuing to investigate the crash.Below is a map of where the incident took place: Source

Stock market today: Trading on Wall Street muted as the end of the year approaches

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

Premarket trading is mixed in a low-volume trading holiday week on Wall Street. Futures for the S&P 500 were virtually unchanged before the bell Thursday, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose nearly 0.3%.Trading has been subdued in the last trading week of the year. The S&P 500 is coming off its eighth straight winning week and is hovering just below its all-time high set in January of 2022.The final week of 2023 lacks any market-moving U.S. economic updates. Later Thursday, the government releases data on layoffs in its weekly unemployment benefits report.Overall, investors have been encouraged by financial data showing inflation is on the decline and the economy appears to be stronger than anticipated. The Fed is walking a tightrope, trying to slow the economy enough through higher interest rates to cool inflation, but not so much that it tips the nation into recession.Recent data raises hopes that the economy can dodge a...